Arel Communications rises after reporting profit

CBS.MarketWatch.com

NEW IBERIA, La. (CBS.MW) -- Arel Communications and Software Ltd. shares closed up 5 percent Tuesday after the company posted a profit, instead of the loss analysts expected.

Shares of Arel Communications, an Internet protocol telephony services and products specialist, rose 7/16 to close at 10.

The company
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reported a first-quarter profit of $67,000, or 2 cents a share, well ahead of First Call's average estimate of a 3-cent loss. Last year, the company reported first-quarter earnings of $67,665, or 1 cent a share. First quarter 2000 consolidated gross profit was $1.7 million, an increase of 9.3 percent over the year-ago total of $1.6 million.

Revenue rose to $3.2 million in the latest three months from $2.85 million in the year-ago period. The Interactive distance learning business unit contributed about $2 million to revenue, an increase of nearly 40 percent compared to the $1.5 million reported in the same quarter of 1999.

"We are now fully involved in the spin-off of ArelNet as a totally independent company, which we expect will begin trading on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange shortly," said Izhak Gross, chairman and chief executive officer.

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